Rumi — You wake the dead to life
Poetry Unbound12 Joulu 2022

Rumi — You wake the dead to life

Who brings you to praise? Rumi’s great poem of praise to the “you” is to his great friend Shams, and through that friendship, to God.

Rumi was a 13th-century Muslim mystic and poet. He left behind a vast body of lyric poetry, metaphysical writings, lectures, and letters, which have influenced Persian, Urdu, and Turkish literature across the centuries.

Haleh Liza Gafori is a translator, vocalist, poet, and educator of Persian descent born in New York City. She has sung and translated the poetry of various Persian poets for well over a decade. She is the translator of GOLD (New York Review of Books / NYRB Classics 2022), translations of poems by Rumi, the 13th-century Muslim mystic and poet. Gafori has taught classes at Dartmouth University, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Taos Poetry Festival, and the Omega Institute.

Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

We’re pleased to offer Rumi’s poem, and invite you to connect with Poetry Unbound throughout this season.

Order your copy of Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World and join us in our vibrant conversational space on Substack.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jaksot(218)

Poetry Unbound Bonus — Walter de la Mare

Poetry Unbound Bonus — Walter de la Mare

Host Pádraig Ó Tuama shares “The Listeners” by Walter de la Mare, a favorite childhood poem of his, and offers an audio postscript to Season 10 of Poetry Unbound. Later in 2026, he will bring us more ...

9 Maalis 9min

Leonard Cohen — Book of Mercy “I,8”

Leonard Cohen — Book of Mercy “I,8”

Have you ever watched, in awe, as a skilled gymnast or skater lifts off and completes a dizzying number of revolutions in less than a second before landing safely back down? That’s how you may feel up...

6 Maalis 16min

Billy-Ray Belcourt — Subarctica

Billy-Ray Belcourt — Subarctica

Will you leave this episode feeling uplifted, envious, curious, or something else entirely? Yes. Billy-Ray Belcourt’s poem “Subarctica” transports you to a vividly specific time — “the coldest Decembe...

2 Maalis 17min

Ruth Irupé Sanabria — Carne

Ruth Irupé Sanabria — Carne

Ruth Irupé Sanabria’s delicious and dexterous “Carne” begins with these lines: “I've eaten pork from / pernil to chuletas to chitterlings.” And just in case you were wondering — and even if you’re not...

27 Helmi 17min

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha — Dukka

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha — Dukka

Loving in the face of violence, danger, and distress is an act of defiance, as demonstrated in Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s achingly beautiful poem “Dukka”.  The Palestinian American writer spotlights seven ...

23 Helmi 15min

Rachel Mann — #TDOR

Rachel Mann — #TDOR

Rachel Mann’s “#TDOR” manages to turn a depiction of one side of a conversation about marking Trans Day of Remembrance into a poem that is both empathic and uncompromising. Mann captures the verbal st...

20 Helmi 20min

Sanah Ahsan — Ramadan’s Greeting

Sanah Ahsan — Ramadan’s Greeting

Sanah Ahsan’s evocative “Ramadan’s Greeting” brings us into the thoughts and experiences of a person observing the holiest month in Islam. In nine brief couplets, the poet deftly directs our attention...

16 Helmi 15min

Kevin Hart — Prayer

Kevin Hart — Prayer

“O come, in any way you want” is the first line in Kevin Hart’s marvelous, mystical “Prayer”. So come to this poem — whether for its deliciously sensual language (“bouts of rain”, “wind that wraps”, “...

13 Helmi 16min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

i-dont-like-mondays
sita
olipa-kerran-otsikko
kaksi-aitia
hupiklubi
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
ihme-ja-kumma
uutiscast
poks
antin-palautepalvelu
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
kolme-kaannekohtaa
rss-murhan-anatomia
mamma-mia
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
aikalisa
meidan-pitais-puhua
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
loukussa
rss-haudattu